Bookies cash in on French defeat

CITY punters and gamblers across the country took a multi-million pound caning as pre-tournament favourites France crashed out of the World Cup today. The defeat of France by Denmark landed the bookies a massive windfall and may herald a World Cup coup.

Britain's biggest bookmaker, Ladbrokes, expects a windfall of up to £1m just from bets for the French to win the tournament outright. Ladbrokes took several £10,000 bets as the odds shortened from 4/1, to 7/2 to 3/1. Spokesman Matt Finnigan said: 'And that's without all the heavy backing each time for France to win their games, for them to win their group, and for David Trezeguet and Thierry Henry to be the leading goalscorers.'

The spread betting firms claimed a massive result from France's inability to score a single goal in the tournament. David Garbacz, of Cantor Index, said there was strong backing for France to score more than 10. IG Index reported heavy betting on France's first goal being in the first half against Senegal. Sporting Index reckons today's result made the firm £500,000.